Education & Classes in Merriam

Although Signature Ballroom's instructors Abby Vogels and Matt Schissler introduce their students to a number of ballroom styles–from tango to foxtrot to samba–they also focus on fitness. During private lessons, they not only teach their charges the fancy footwork, but how to use the steps as a means of exercising and losing weight in a fun and creative way, much like completing a coloring book while running on a treadmill. Guests can also work out and build connections between one another with more modern techniques such as East and West Coast swing.

Already existing connections are further strengthened during wedding couples' dances. After teaching prenuptial footwork to just the bride and groom or the entire wedding party, the instructors provide a video of the choreography so their pupils can practice at home in preparation for the big day.

After spending 32 years enriching the lives of children as an educator, Dr. Gwen Larson Morris shifted career paths when her passion for photography led her to found Gwen Morris Studio. With an artistic approach that she describes as "painting with light, highlights, and shadows," Morris uses natural elements to create inimitable portraits for her clients, whether she's snapping maternity pictures, senior pictures, or canine law-school-graduation pictures. As comfortable in the classroom as she is behind a camera, Morris leads aspiring photographers and shutterbugs through workshops in the art of memory preservation, helping them grasp the inner workings of their cameras while finding their own photographic style.

Burgeoning artists in their junior and senior years of high school spend four days immersed in the topics of their choice, picking from disciplines such as interior design, game arts, and photography. Sketching, filming, and whisking meringue by day, the students work hard before shopping, dining, pool partying, or beret adjusting at night. Pupils who opt for lodging rest up for back-to-back, intensive courses in the local Holiday Inn Hotel and Suites, in between a packed agenda designed to proffer a taste of art school life.

Pam Rector picked up her first roll of wallpaper as a little girl. As the spark of passion for color and design ignited, her mother fanned the flames, letting Pam redesign her room as many times as she wanted. By age 14, she had mastered the techniques of sewing pillows and painting furniture, allowing her room to grow as an “extension of her true personality.” As an adult, she temporarily put her design ambitions aside to begin a stint in the restaurant business, but she couldn’t keep her creativity stifled. The hand-drawn fliers and holiday decorations that she worked on in her spare time opened up the window to her dream job, and she eventually quit the corporate world and became a full-time designer.

Founding Rector Studio in March 2012, Pam now works with clients on decorating projects that range from full home makeovers to color consultation. Armed with color swatches, fabrics, and a carpet-to-English dictionary, she adds small touches with custom-made pillows, draperies and blinds, or re-does larger decor from flooring to furniture. While working on redesigns, Pam also keeps budgets in mind, maintaining an artistic vision that won’t break the bank.

Louis Bar and Laura Cantu have made a habit of competing on the world stage. As six-time French National champions and five-time World Finalists in Argentine tango and swing, they're more than capable of helming the educators at Louis & Company Ballroom Dance Studio. Along with the rest of the instructors, they teach three main dance styles and the various permutations contained within each. Latin classes cover the upbeat tempo and swinging hips of samba, cha-cha, and bolero, and the studio's ballroom classes celebrate slow and smooth elegance. Louis and Laura also lead protégés in the seductive duel that is tango, named for the tangerines that you typically hurl at dancers instead of applause.

Many studios teach the art of social dancing, but often omit teaching the art of being social. The instructors at TC Dance Club ensure that guests spend as much time kibitzing as they do foxtrotting by hosting classes and open-bar club parties. Between soirees, they teach group and private lessons in dances such as ballroom, Latin, and swing, expediting the learning process by emphasizing the similar patterns across the range of styles. Dancers can dazzle their peers with their newly acquired fancy footwork during Friday night parties, Saturday socials, and member dance shows.

The studio transports students into an elegant dance-hall setting with softly lit chandeliers and a glowing fireplace. The expansive floating dance floor is surrounded by dining tables, sofas, and built-in bar, where patrons can mingle and pontificate on the evolution of the macarena.